How Do Volcanoes Turn Blue
At the eastern end of the island of Java, Indonesia, a group of stratovolcanoes, which form part of the Ijen volcano complex, rise 2,800 metres into the sky. Violent eruptions over the past millennia have left behind a sprawling cratered landscape measuring almost 80 kilometres across. Noxious gases spiral out of this forbidding landscape – but that’s not all. The volcano also spews out tons of 538°C sulphur from cracks in the rock to the surface. The sulphur reacts with the oxygen in the air and burns, causing a steaming, blue-lit river to tumble down the mountain.
The burning river of sulphur eventually empties directly into the 200-metre-deep crater lake of Kawah Ijen. This 900-metrelong, 600-metre-wide body of water is the largest highly acidic crater in the world. The pH value of the bubbling lake is 0.5 – roughly as acidic as car battery acid.
In 1921, to protect the surrounding land from this poisonous concoction, Dutch engineers constructed a massive dam on the edge of the crater, which prevented the uncontrolled run-off of the swirling sulphuric soup. These days the dam is no longer operational; instead ceramic pipes collect the run-off of sulphur which is then mined by local workers when it has cooled down suffi ciently.
The Corona Virus Explained
Most Venomous Animals on Earth
Most Danngerous Weapons
Best Airports in the World
Most Visited Cities in the World
Most Beautiful Capitals in the World
The Deepest Hole in the World
Weird Discoveries Can't Explain
Interest Facts About Neptune
What is the Darkest Material
Interesting Facts About Mars
Amazing Facts About Sun
Interesting Facts About Sun
Science Facts Didn't Learn
Science Facts No Longer Taught
Recent Science Discoveries
Ridiculous Science Myths
Is Freezing Contagious
What Are Tree Bombers
Facts About Recycling
Equation Changed the World
Most Dangerous Plants
Uncontacted Tribes Still Exist
How Much Google Cost
How Alcohol Make Drunk
Most Mysterious Lakes
Can an Animal Clone Itself
Brief History of Alcohol
Most Danngerous Weapons
UPDATE NEW TOPIC
